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Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Ask Noodles - Raw Food Diet?

A note from Max: Here's a great article from The Great Noodles. If you have questions, please send them to his email at TheGreatNoodles@gmail.com. It makes no difference, Noodles will answer questions from critters and their humans. Now, without further ado, Heeeeeeeere's Noodles....

Dear Noodles,

My name is Sam the Tabby. I'm almost 15 but still look like a kitten in the face. I have some thyroid issues so I take pills everyday that my humanz try to sneak in my food. Otherwise, I'm a pretty healthy kitty.My mom has been reading about a movement of humanz that make their own cat food and that a raw diet is very good for us cats. But she's afraid to tamper with me, because I'm a little older. Do you know anything about the raw food diet? What are your thoughts?

Love and fishes you handsome kitty!Sammy@SamTheCatRocks (on Twitter)

Hey Sammy! Thanks for the question. This is a toughie for sure.

As I was growing up, I lived with constant medical problems. At one point, my vets told my human to have me put down! Shocking, now that you see me in all my pudgy and happy glory. I had ulcers throughout my digestive system, and nearly every morning on her way to work, my food human dropped me off at the vet (because I was bleeding or some other sort of mess).

We went on like this for quite a while, and my food human did the best she could to make my life better. Even, for a time, making my food from scratch. The problem for me though, is that I’m a huge weirdo and don’t like anything but kibble. Her efforts were useless on me.

These days I’m on prescription food for urinary crystals. My food human was uncertain of this diet full of chemicals and fillers. Upon a recommendation from a close friend following my dental surgery (I wasn’t eating so well), she tried Evo cat food. This stuff is supposed to be specially formulated with no fillers and as close to our natural diet as you can get in a kibble. I loved the stuff and it got me through my surgery recovery last winter, I even vomited less… way less (and vomiting is totally my thing).

But my food human worried. What if not having the prescription food caused a relapse and another painful hospitalization? She didn’t want to take the risk and slowly moved me back onto the prescription Hills diet.

I’m blabbing on about all of this for a number of reasons. First, each feline has their own dietary needs so it seems. I, for one, won’t eat anything that isn’t shaped like bunny poo, and that doesn’t come out of a crinkly bag. Add to that the need for me to keep my crystals at bay. I’m getting too old to risk illness. If you don’t require a special diet however, that Evo brand tasted great… as close to the raw/natural diet as I’ve seen.

If your situation allows for some flexibility in diet, I’d recommend asking your food human to discuss the diet with your veterinarian. This way all your bases are covered. Oh and another thing, the raw diet, homemade from scratch can be quite the chore for your food humans. Make sure they look into it sufficiently… us felines require some wacky things in our diets which can be hard to find.

Of course I’m all for making them do more for us. So if they’re up for it and you get the green light from your doc, I say go for it and dominate your food humans!!

Wishing you the best in your digestive adventure,

Noodles

PS: As a heads up, you’ll probably get the poops at first if you start the new diet.

Thanks Sammy! I've had a lot of crazy experiences in my several years. Happily, most of my time has been spent purring and caterwauling around the house for fun. :) Keep us posted! I'll be curious to see how things go for you on a new diet!

I was the " parent " of 3 cats, Freddy K, Ashtray and How'bout. Freddy and 'Tray were 16 on March 17th and How'bout was 14 on June 15th. I was fortunate to have had all of them for that amount of time. People did not have the great life that I made for these guys. Sadly, I lost Freddy on 4/18/08 due to cancer, tumors and needed insulin twice a day. I lost How'bout on 6/6/08 due to kidney failure and then on 6/22/09, I lost 'Tray to cancer. I always hoped that I would " go " before them, but it was not meant to be. Everyone says to get another cat or animal. Can't do it. I gave every bit of my heart and love to them and I don't think that I have enough left to share with another cat. I play with the cats in the neighborhood but they are not used to people and are afraid to come close. At night, I still feel 'Tray jump up on my bed to sleep with me, but when I open my eyes, it was just wishful thinking. I am open to emailing anyone that needs some uplifting advise or just someone to talk to. My name is Cherie and my email address is: nysom@comcast.net. I look forward to hearing from you. Love your cats unconditionally since you never know when they won't be there anymore. I feel that I gave mine the best life that they could have had. I still have a boxfull of their toys. There are toys under dressers, night stands. Wherever I look, there is something they played with. I would be happy to share with anyone that wants some. I just can't " throw them away " as though my kids didn't exist. Thank you for reading this. Please feel free to contact me anytime. By the way, Sammy is my friend's cat and I have a picture of him on my wall

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This used to be (and always will be in spirit) Max the Quilt Cat's Blog. On 3/8/13, he gave it over to Bugsy and Knuckles, his nephews. Max has gone to the bridge and advises them when necessary. Bugsy and Knuckles on the other hand are Double Trouble. Come join us for their antics. Everybuddy welcome.... P.S. ... HH is our food human and we let her blog now and then too... She's also a writer and artist and displays her paintings on Cat-A-Day Paintings. There's a badge to click on to go there.